My guess is that this is the biggest holiday Monday of the year. Victoria Day, Thanksgiving - these are nice holidays. But this holiday Monday launches into new territory - it is the day before the beginning of the school year for Canadians.
All the other holidays are landing places which have events of their own. I can't think of Labour Day events that are significant. And then our Ontario landing day events such as the CNE and the International Air Show conclude on Labour Day. That makes them closing events to the summer and focus attention on what's next.
And what's next here in Canada is the school year. A substantial portion of the population - those under 20 or so, if we include anyone going to post-secondary education consider this a significant day for other reasons than Labour and workers.
We have to look back in history - the workers being celebrated on Labour Day worked for a specific kind of owner - the ones we think of as Robber barons and "Captains of industry" (as I call them). These were the corporate titans who weren't considered as predatory as robber barons. To me the amassing of personal wealth and the control of major sectors of industry/economy, not just creating monopolies are the criteria for being in the "Owner" Class.
The instigating event that led to all this celebration is the 1872 printers' strike in Toronto. It was about the fight for a nine-hour work day - down from 12 hours. At that time union activity was illegal, and the strikers were put in prison. The fight over rights developed between George Brown, owner of The Globe and John A MacDonald, Prime Minister of Canada. MacDonald changed the laws, so he won the titan battle. However, the strikers mostly lost their jobs. Workers did get the right to a nine-hour day and a 54-hour week. There was an annual celebration of the victory of the Nine Hour Movement. The U.S. had started a "labor day" commemoration each year. Canada declared a national labour holiday in 1894, and made Labour Day official. Winnipeg's Labour Day parade stretched five kilometres.
So here we are at the milestone of the year that celebrates the little person's right to a decent work day, wages and working conditions. But we're actually looking ahead to the next volume to unfold in the lives of children and students where the path of education is considered paramount in Canada.
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